Health, Nutrition and Fitness with Crohn's Disease

Health Update – Liquid Diet

For the last 6 days I’ve been having some Crohn’s related “issues.” It is partly my fault as I brought it on myself from overdoing it on BSD (Bermuda Shorts Day-a huge school wide party celebrating the last day of classes). Yes, I do occasionally drink. I know I shouldn’t but I’m also in university and like to have a good time just like everyone else. This topic is something I’ve tried to stay away from talking about because it kind of goes in the opposite direction of what I’m preaching in this blog. In a future post I’ve been working on, I will to touch on the subject of alcohol and Crohn’s disease and the difficulties of living the “college lifestyle”, so keep checking back for that.

Lately, I have been having a flare-up where my lower stomach/intestine causes severe pain that penetrates through my entire lower back that is also painful to the touch. This causes a serious concern as I am in the middle of final exams and cannot afford to have a hospital visit this week or I may not finish the semester. The pain is severe enough I had to take some heavy painkillers just to function normally. These drugs make me cloudy and make it extremely difficult to study and understand complex concepts. I’ve been doing my best to stay off them but I gave in and took a few which really made it hard to study. I had my first exam Saturday so I can now relax a bit until my next exam in a few days.

The intestinal pain directly correlates to how inflamed my intestines are right now. Obviously exam stresses do not help so I’ve adjusted my diet to be mostly in a liquid form until I start feeling better (For more detail on my liquid diet check out a previous post, 5 days in the Hospital, One Grape). Basically I will drink protein shakes, make smoothies, and eat things that are super easy to digest like bananas, eggs, eggwhites, and steamed yams. The inflammation in my intestines causes partial bowel obstructions due to strictures and that is the last thing I want right now. I go on a liquid diet to make easier on my digestive tract and prevent blockages.

I’ve never had anything mentally break me down as hard as Crohn’s has. I’m trying to balance a university education, social life, fitness and an incurable disease all at once. No one sees the ugly side of what I constantly deal with. Crohn’s is an invisible disease where you see no visual symptoms. I am by no means, asking anyone to feel sorry for me but do think about your own situation and how fortunate you are to live the life you live. I constantly think about how there is always other people in a much worse situation than myself to motivate through difficult times. Always remember to appreciate the important things like your health, family and friends and make the best out of the days when you do feel good.